The present invention relates to Facsimile (Fax) services, and more particularly to a technique for confirming whether a Fax document has been delivered from a Fax forwarding service to the intended recipient.
Fax machines are in common use. They allow a user to transmit a document over standard phone networks.
A standard feature of fax machines is that the receiving (called) machine sends to the sending machine a character string, called the Called Subscriber Identification (CSI), that is supposed to identify the receiving machine. The standard allows a maximum of 20 characters, consisting of the 10 numeric characters, the + character and the space character. Most fax machines are also able to print upper case alphanumerics even though this is not standardized.
Another common but not standardized feature is that, after sending a document, the sending machine emits a xe2x80x9ctransmission reportxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cactivity reportxe2x80x9d which records certain key information, such as the time of transmission, the called (or receiving) machine""s number, the called machine""s CSI, the number of pages, error conditions, etc. This transmission report may be a useful business or legal record. Commonly, the sender files the transmission report along with the transmitted document. If the transmission report indicates unsatisfactory quality or incomplete transmission, the sender may wish to retransmit the document.
It is sometimes desirable for the sending fax machine to communicate not directly with the intended receiving fax machine, but rather to communicate with a forwarding service. The forwarding service may provide features such as broadcast to multiple recipients, reduced cost, automatic retransmission in case of error or in case the receiver is busy, etc.
Commonly, the fax forwarding service eventually provides the sender with a status report listing. documents received and whether or not they have been forwarded to the intended recipients. This status report can be delivered by fax, electronic mail, etc.
This status report should not be confused with the transmission report emitted by the sender""s fax machine. Although sometimes the transmission report can reflect the success or failure of the forwarding operation (e.g., when the document can be forwarded to the ultimate recipients while the original sender is still on the line), more typically the transmission report indicates only that the document was received by the forwarding service, not by the ultimate recipients (e.g., when there are multiple recipients, or where better or cheaper service can be achieved by delaying the forwarding).
However, presently, no satisfactory technique exists for accurately matching the transmission report with an entry of the status report. Rather, the sender is forced to make an educated guess to match each entry of the status report with each transmission report based on number of pages, time and date, etc. This can be difficult and error-prone process for confirming transmission of documents to the intended recipients.
Therefore, a need exists for a simple and accurate technique that allows the sender to confirm that a document was forwarded to the intended recipient.
The Fax system of the present invention includes a sending fax machine, an intermediate fax machine operated by a fax forwarding service, and one or more receiving fax machines. Each fax machine may be a standard fax machine, or may be a computer with a fax interface.
A fax call is placed from the sending fax machine to the intermediate fax machine. A Job ID is generated by the fax forwarding service, either in advance, or in response to the fax call. The intermediate fax machine answers the telephone call and sends its Called Station Identification (CSI) back to the sending fax machine. The CSI includes the generated Job ID as a sub-string. The sending fax machine sends a fax message (e.g., a document) to the intermediate fax machine, and outputs a transmission report. The transmission report lists the Job ID received from the intermediate fax machine to identify the fax message and indicates whether the fax message was successfully sent to the intermediate fax machine. The fax message (perhaps in modified form and/or combined with other information) is forwarded to one or more intended recipients. The fax forwarding service then provides the sender with a status report listing the job ID and indicating whether the fax message corresponding to the Job ID was successfully forwarded to the intended recipients. The sender can then confirm successful transmission of the original document by matching the Job ID on the status report to the Job ID on the transmission report.